Noted American Negroes

Since the abolition of slavery within the United States by the Proclamation President Lincoln, January 1st, 1863, a large number of the freed Black Race have held official positions under the Government.

Two negroes have held the position of United States Senator.

Twenty-two have served in Congress in the House of Representatives.

Two have been Registers of the Treasury.

Several have been Lieutenant Governors of States.

Nearly a score have been Foreign Ministers or Consuls.

Six have been Recorders of Deeds of the District of Columbia.

Several have been officers in the army.

And a large number have filled other prominent positions.

The first negro to fill the position of United States Senator was Hiram R. Revells, of Mississippi. By a peculiar irony of fate, he was elected to fill the unexpired term of Jefferson Davis, who resigned the position of Senator from Mississippi to become President of the Southern Confederacy. Revells was elected February 25th, 1870, after Mississippi had come back into the Union, and served until March 3rd, 1871. From these dates it would appear that he was the successor of Mr. Davis, but in the official records his service appears as filling out the unexpired term of Mr. Davis, the interregnum having been considered a blank so far as Mississippi's representation in the United States was concerned.

Hiram R. Revells, born in North Carolina, September 1st, 1822. He graduated from Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. After his retirement from public life he became President of Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, at Rodney, Mississippi. He was a Methodist preacher, and received the degree of Doctor of Divinity.

Blanche K. Bruce, also a United States Senator from Mississippi, was the other of the two negroes who held the position of United States Senator. He was also one of two members of his race to hold the position of Register of the Treasury. He was born in Virginia, March 1st, 1841. He served in the Senate during a full term from 1875 to 1881. He filled the position of Recorder of Deeds of the District of Columbia from February 7th, 1890, to May 26th, 1894. He was afterwards made Register of the Treasury, and died in March, 1898, while filling this position.

The second member of his race to fill the high position of Register of the Treasury is Judson W. Lyons, appointed by President M'Kinley, and who now admirably fills that position. His autograph, as was that of Mr. Bruce, is seen on all the paper money printed during his term of service. Mr. Lyons was born in Burke County, Georgia, August 15th, 1858. He is regarded as perhaps the most influential Republican with the present Administration from the State of Georgia.

Among the negroes who have served in Congress as members of the House of Representatives, Joseph H. Rainey, of South Carolina, comes first in time of election and first in length of service. He was a member of Congress for ten years, including the 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 44th and 45th Congresses. He was born in South Carolina, June 21st, 1832. His long service in Congress is a remarkable tribute to his influence.

Jefferson F. Long, a native of Georgia, was a member of the 41st Congress from that State, and has the distinction of being the only negro that Georgia has sent to Congress.

Robert Brown Elliot, of South Carolina, was noted as one of the most brilliant of his race. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, August 11th, 1842. In his boyhood he went to Jamaica. From there he went to England, and graduated with distinction, about 1859, at the famous Eton College, London. He was a member of the 42nd and 43rd Congresses from South Carolina. In 1879, at the Chicago Republican Convention, he seconed the nomination of Hon. John Sherman for President. When Mr. Sherman was afterwards Secretary of the Treasury, he made Elliot the Special Agent of that Department at Charleston, South Carolina.

John R. Lynch, of Mississippi, was a member of the 43rd and 44th Congresses from that State. He is still a noted figure in Mississippi politics. He was Fourth Auditor of the Treasury under President Harrison, and is now Paymaster of the United States Army in Cuba.

John Mercer Langston, of Virginia, was born December 14th, 1829. He won and honored the titles of A.B., A.M., and LL.D. He graduated at Oberlin College, Ohio, and was admitted to the Bar in Ross County. When General Howard founded Howard University of Washington he made Langston Dean of the Law Department. While in this position he introduced the system of lectures on the Ethics of Law, in which such noted men as Ralph Waldo Emerson took part. He won the gold medal given by the Scientific Society of Paris for the best essay on "How to Teach Law." The competition was open to the world. He was a candidate for Congress from the 4th Virginia district in 1888. The certificate of election was given to the Democratic contestant, Mr. Venable, but Langston contested and won. Hon. Thomas B. Reed was then Speaker of the House. It was during this contest that the Democrats fillibustered to prevent the vote in favor of Langston. Reed had the doors locked to keep the Democrats from going out and breaking a quorum, and Hon. Buck Kilgore, of Texas, kicked the door down to make his escape. This period registered one of the most famous rows that ever took place in Congress. Langston served as Minister to Haiti, under President Hayes. He was at one time counsel for Hon. John Wanamaker, of Philadelphia. His speech in Congress on the Civil Rights Bill was one of the noted deliverances of the 50th Congress. He died in 1897.

George Washington Murray, who represented the first South Carolina District in the 53rd and 54th Congresses, was born September 22nd, 1853. In the 54th Congress the certificate of election was given to his opponent, Hon. William Elliott, but, as the result of a contest, the seat was awarded to Mr. Murray. He is still one of the most prominent members of his race in South Carolina, and is often seen in Washington.

Pinckney Benton Stuart Pinchback, of Louisiana, was elected to the United States Senate from that State in 1873, but was not seated. His contest was delayed or prolonged during his entire term; and, although he was not seated, he was paid for the full length of his term. The money thus received was made the basis of a considerable fortune, which he now enjoys. He lives in an elegant home in Washington, and is President of the District of Columbia Afro-American Council. He bears the title of Governor, having been Lieutenant-Governor of the State of Louisiana. He was born May 19th, 1837.

The only negro of the present Congress is George H. White, who represents the second district of North Carolina. He was born in that State, April 18th, 1852. He was also a member of the last Congress, the 55th. He graduated from Howard University, Washington, and received the degree of LL.D. from Livingston College, Salisbury, North Carolina, and Biddle University, Charlotte, North Carolina.

The position of Recorder of Deeds of the District of Columbia has been held by negroes since May 20th, 1881, when Frederick Douglass was appointed to that position. He served till August 11th, 1886.

Of the number of negroes who have held foreign appointments, the most prominent, and probably the foremost member of his race, was Frederick Douglass. He was born in Maryland, in 1817. He was Minister to Haiti under President Harrison, Marshal of the District of Columbia under President Hayes, and Recorder of Deeds under Presidents Garfield and Arthur. His career as an orator and a public official and as a defender of his people stamped him as one of the leading men of the time.

William F. Powell, of New Jersey, was appointed by President M'Kinley Minister to Haiti, and is now serving in that high capacity.

John R. Ruffin, of Tennessee, is serving as Consul to Asuncion, Paraguay.

Dr. Henry Furniss, of Indiana, is Consul to Bahia, Brazil.

Richard T. Greener, of Pennsylvania, is Commercial Agent at Vladivostok, Russia, under appointment of President Cleveland. Greener was born in Philadelphia about fifty years ago. He was the first negro to graduate from Harvard University, where he took honors in Metaphysics. He was the secretary to the Grant Monument Fund in New York, and he was appointed Civil Service Commissioner by Mayor Grace of New York.

C. H. J. Taylor, of Georgia, who has been mentioned as Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia, was Minister to Liberia under President Cleveland's first administration, and was appointed by President Cleveland in his second administration as Minister to Bolivia, but was not confirmed by the Senate. President Cleveland then made him Recorder of Deeds. He died in 1899 while holding the position of Lecturer on Law in Clark University, a prominent negro university in Atlanta, Georgia.

James Lewis, of Louisiana, is now Surveyor-General of that State under appointment by President M'Kinley. He has been Naval Officer at New Orleans, and also Surveyor of that Port. He was a Captain in the Civil War, commissioned by President Lincoln, and rose to the position of Lieutenant-Colonel.

R. R. Wright, of Augusta, Georgia, was appointed by President M'Kinley Paymaster in the army during the war with Spain and served in Cuba. He resigned this position, and is now President of a negro college near Savannah, Georgia.

John P. Green, of Cleveland, Ohio, is now United States Stamp Agent of the Washington City Post Office. He served in both Houses of the Ohio Legislature and is the author of the Ohio Labor Law.

George W. Williams, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was appointed Minister to Haiti by President Arthur. He is the author of a well-known history of the negro race, published in two volumes. He died in Switzerland while writing a United States history for Harper, Brothers.

Dr. Chas. B. Purvis, of Washington, was the first negro Surgeon-in-Chief of the Freedmen's Hospital of Washington. He was succeeded by Dr. Austin N. Curtis, of Chicago, who still holds the position.

Charles Young, who graduated at West Point, was Major of the 9th Ohio Battalion in the Spanish War.

Henry O. Flipper, who was the first negro to graduate at West Point, served in the war with Spain, and was afterwards translator of Spanish in the Department of Justice. He is now Special Agent of that Department in New Mexico.

But the number of negroes who hold positions under the Government, in the Revenue and Customs Service, as Postmasters and Railway Mail Clerks, as Clerks in various capacities in the Departments at Washington, and who fill many minor positions under the Government, is so great as to be entirely out of proportion to the space at hand. The prominent negro preachers and teachers and professional men would make a large-sized book. The record of the achievements of this race, since their emancipation, graphically put together, would read like a veritable romance.